In amongst the burnt piling the Jefe sent his men to investigate, and they waded and swam about in the shoal water, being careful to avoid being caught by the outlying suck of the whirlpool. Augustino, the Silent, made the find, close in to shore.
"I am standing on something," he announced, the level of the lake barely to his knees. Torres plunged in, and, reaching under till he buried his head and shoulders, felt out the object.
"It is the chest, I am certain," he declared. "Come! All of you! Drag this out to the dry land so that we may examine into it!"
But when this was accomplished, and just as he bent to Dpen the lid, the Jefe stopped him.
"Go back into the water, the lot of you," he commanded his men. "There are a number of chests like this, and the expedition will be a failure i
